Crimson
by thesonicwizard
Summary: Amy suffered an injury during a fight with some aliens, but when she regains consciousness, something is terribly, terribly wrong.


The red hair flowed out from underneath her framing face in a mane of fire, much like a lion's. It contrasted with her bloodless lips, which had turned light pink as the blood drained from her face. It drained to the floor, mixing its scarlet liquid with her hair's crimson. All the Doctor saw was shades of red.

Someone was next to Amy, shaking her, screaming her name. It echoed deafly against the Doctor's ears. He leaned against the TARDIS for support, and was shoved roughly over when the man who was shaking Amy carried her inside. The Doctor fell to the ground. Everything moved so quickly.

A woman with astoundingly curly hair grabbed his arm and yanked him up, pulling him in the TARDIS. "Doctor! Doctor, we have to go!" She yelled, half dragging the disheveled man into the old, blue box. She abandoned him to head towards the console, and began to press buttons and pull at levers.

Suddenly, there was noise. The TARDIS screeching, River yelling, Rory shouting. But no Amy. The Doctor snapped into action, and delved deep into the rooms of the TARDIS, heading towards Amy and Rory's room. He found them there, with Amy splayed on the bottom bunk. Bunk beds. What had he been thinking?

"Doctor. You gotta help her. She's bleeding all over, and I can't get it to stop." Rory looked at the Doctor panickedly.

"Yes. Right." The Doctor went over to attend to his companion. Blood was spilling out at an alarming rate. Some sort of head trauma, it seemed. The Doctor turned her on his side, and ran his fingers through her long hair, trying to find the wound. The blood and the hair melded into one, and everything was a confusing, fiery red mess.

Finally his hands found a tear in the skin. "I need a cloth, or something." Rory pulled off his coat and handed it over to the Doctor, who pressed it up against the wound. Blood began to stain the material, but soon it abated. Hesitantly, the Doctor pulled away the ruined article and peered at the wound.

It was a deep cut, and it had bled a lot. Amy was startlingly white. "She'll be okay." The Doctor breathed out. "Rory, you wait with her while I get some stuff to close up the wound."

The Doctor left the room to go find a particular ointment. It would speed up the healing, and close the gash. As he walked, he replayed the situation in his mind.

They'd been fighting a particularly nasty brand of alien. Half humanoid, half snake, called Serpians. They'd been trying to eradicate the planet's native inhabitants, a quiet, homely race of rat-people. Well, they weren't really rats. But that's what they looked like. Something had gone wrong. The sonic had malfunctioned, and the Doctor's plan to trap the Serpians failed miserably. Amy, who had been leading the enemies into the trap hadn't been able to get out safely. She'd gotten smacked on the head by the tail of one of the head Serpentiles, the long spike on the end grazing over the back of her head.

Everything had gone blurry for a while after that. River and Rory rushed to fight off the rest of the aliens and get Amy back on the TARDIS. But the Doctor was caught up in his own failure. He failed to keep his companion safe. He'd gotten another person hurt as a result of his actions.

The Doctor grabbed the ointment and returned to the room. Rory was faithfully sitting by Amy's side, and River had joined him. The Doctor handed over the ointment, and gave Rory the instructions on how to use it. Then, he left the room to return to the TARDIS console.

Not only had he failed Amy, he had failed that planet. People were dying because of him, because he had messed up, and failed to bring back peace. He clutched the railing angrily, turning his knuckles white.

They returned to the Pond's house, and they stayed there for several days. Amy slept and slept, with no change in her vital signs. Rory wanted to take her to a hospital. The Doctor said no. She turned in her sleep, and sometimes let out inaudible mumbles. She was alive, that was what mattered.

One day, River and Rory were gone, busy retrieving things from inside the TARDIS. The Doctor sat by Amy's bedside, and began to talk to himself.

"Amy. I'm so sorry. Dear Amy Pond." He reached out to brush a strand of hair away from her face. "The girl who waited. What are you waiting for?" She lay silently, and the Doctor withdrew his hand.

"No one is supposed to get hurt. Especially not you. Not my friends. I've let all of you down too much already." He turned his head away from Amy, looking out the window

"Do you remember the Star Whale? And dear Vincent. You're so kind, Amy. You're really, truly one of the best. And brave. All of you have been brave, but oh, Amy Pond. You're one of the bravest. From the moment I met you, I knew you would be brave. I knew you would be different. Ever since the fish fingers and custard." The Doctor leaned down and placed a kiss on Amy's forehead. He rose from the edge of the bed, and began to leave.

Out of nowhere, Amy cried out. "RORY!" She yelled, and the Doctor turned around.

"Amy! You're awake!" He cried with glee.

Amy jumped out of the bed, and grabbed a remote on the nightstand. "Don't come near me. I'll hit you." She took a defensive stance, and called out for Rory again.

"Amy? It's me. The Doctor."

"I don't know who you are, or why you're in my house. RORY." This time, Rory rushed in, and stopped next to the Doctor.

"Amy! You're awake!"

"Yeah, I am. Where have you been? There's someone in our house." She pointed accusingly at the Doctor.

"Rory, listen, I don't think-" The Doctor began.

"Amy, that's the Doctor."

"The Doctor? Why is there a doctor in the house? Why isn't he off doing all his medically stuff." Amy waved the remote around and gestured towards the Doctor.

"Rory. I need to speak with you." The Doctor said, stepping into the hallway. Rory exchanged a few quiet words with Amy, who relaxed a bit, and then Rory followed the Doctor.

"Doctor. What's going on with her?"

"I think she's got a bit of amnesia. Nasty bump to the head you know. We should be able to jumpstart her memory, if we just remind her."

Rory nodded. "Right. And how exactly do we go about doing that?"

"Follow my lead." The Doctor whispered, and he strided back into the room.

"Amy! Hello. I'm your doctor. You can just call me that. Doctor."

"Where's your coat then? And why are you here?"

"House call, Amy. You had a bit of a bump on your head."

"You don't say. I never would have guessed by the way it's pounding."

Rory looked over nervously to the Doctor, but the Doctor smiled back at him.

"Right, now I just need to ask you a few questions to make sure everything's working properly."

Amy sat down on the bed. "Go on then."

The Doctor sat down as well. "Who is Rory, to you?"

"He's my husband, 'course." She answered very definitively.

"Good, good. Now, do you know a woman named River?"

"Yeah. She's my best friend. We've known each other since primary school." She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Got anymore obvious questions?"

"Primary school?" The Doctor questioned. "Has she always gone by River?"

"Yeah, that's her name. What else would she go by?"

"Oh, nothing. Just testing long term memory." The Doctor was growing uncomfortable. Something was wrong, very wrong. But he had one last question.

"How do you feel about angel statues?" He asked. Amy responded with a look of bewilderment.

"Why would I care about angel statues?" She crossed her arms. "Look, am I alright? You done with your little examination?"

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. "Just let me talk to Rory for one moment, and I'll go."

Once more, the Doctor pulled Rory out into the hallway.

"The small memory triggers aren't working. We'll just have to explain everything to her."

"She'll think we're mad. Tossers." Rory replied, glancing over with concern to Amy.

"I'm afraid we have no choice."

The Doctor re-entered the room, and sat down. He began to explain everything to Amy. From fish fingers and custard to Vincent Van Gogh and the Silence. As he went on, her face knotted even more in confusion and disbelief.

"You're mad." She replied, shaking her head. "Positively mad. River is not my daughter, she's my best friend. I told you. I've known her since primary. And time-travel? That's ridiculous. Are you sure you're a doctor?" Amy drew back a little.

Suddenly, she let out a sharp gasp. "Ow. Ow!" She clutched at her head, yelling out in pain.

"Doctor!" Rory cried. "What's going on?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Oh, this is not good. Not good." He grasped Amy's head, placing his hands over hers. "Amy. Amy, you need to look at me."

Amy opened her eyes, watering with tears from the pain. "Doctor, it hurts."

"I know Amy. It's just leftover trauma. Listen to me. What I just told you. None of it's true, it was just a test. To make sure you could tell fact from fiction. Time travel?" The Doctor laughed shakily. "Who'd ever believe that? Do you understand me Amy?"

Amy's ragged breaths slowed, and she looked up at the Doctor. "It's gone. The headache. It just stopped."

The Doctor nodded, his own eyes watering on the edges. "Yes, of course Amy. Just some trauma. I'll give you some pain killers in case it happens again."

She nodded in agreement, and lay back down on the pillows.

"You get some more rest. I'm going to talk to Rory again. Then I'll be leaving. Take care, Amy Pond."

Amy said thank you, and closed her eyes.

Rory and the Doctor stepped out into the hallway, where River now had joined them.

"Doctor? What's going on?" River questioned.

The Doctor sighed. "The Serpians. They have this poison. Usually, they use it with their fangs, but they can also eject it through their tails. It alters reality. Confuses the victim, make for an easier kill. Amy, she only got a small dose. But it was enough to change her memories. The thing about this venom is that when the victim tries to remember reality, it causes massive amounts of pain. Another way the Serpians subdue their prey. That was why Amy began to have the headache."

"Can't she just fight through the pain?" River looked up at the Doctor with concerned eyes.

"No." The Doctor replied, staring at the ground. "It would kill her first."

There was silence in the hallway.

The Doctor was the first to break it. "I have to go. I can't come back." He looked at Rory with a tear running down his face, and he spared one last look at a now sleeping Amy. "You can never tell her. You can't mention me or any of it. For the rest of her life." The Doctor choked up, remembering the last time he had said those words. Tears flowed faster down his face. Two companions. Two had forgotten everything they'd ever seen, everything they'd ever done. Forgotten their importance.

River placed a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "I'll come with you."

"No. You have to stay. She thinks you're her best friend. Rory will have to fill you in."

Once again, silence permeated the area, no one willing to leave or say anything.

"Goodbye, Ponds." The Doctor finally said, and strode out without another word.

He snapped his fingers and the TARDIS swung open, and he entered, never breaking stride. He walked up to the console, and starting pulling and pressing. The distinctive noise of the TARDIS overwhelmed his ears, and soon, he was lost in the time vortex.

The Doctor stared into the long, blue center of the console. It pumped up and down, whirring.

"Just you and me again, Sexy." A lone tear descended the Doctor's cheek, splashing on the ground as he let out a weak, mournful laugh. "Just you and me again."


End file.
